If you are homeless on the day
If you have become homeless suddenly and have not had time to make alternative arrangements, please use our housing advice contact form to find the best way to get in contact with us for your situation.
Our office hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. If you become homeless outside these office hours, call our night or weekend emergency housing service on 020 8753 4200.
We will carry out an assessment of your situation by phone.
What we will ask you to provide
You'll need to provide certain documents so that we can help you, such as:
- ID (a passport, birth certificate or residence card)
- birth certificates for any children that live with you
- proof of address (utility bills)
- proof of income (bank statements, wage slips or benefits award letters).
Your housing officer can talk you through how you can submit these documents electronically. It will help to speed up the process if you have photos or scanned copies of these documents ready.
If you don't have ID, you may have a letter from the home office confirming your immigration status which we will ask to see.
If you don't provide any documentation it will be very difficult for us to help you.
Who we're likely to help
We can help you if you're eligible and homeless but we follow a legal process to prioritise who we rehouse.
If we don't consider you to be homeless, we will always provide you with advice and guidance to find a solution.
What is local connection
For us to consider providing housing, we need to establish that you have a local connection with Hammersmith & Fulham.
You have a local connection with Hammersmith & Fulham if you:
- have lived in Hammersmith & Fulham for longer than elsewhere - this can be 6 of the last 12 months, or 3 of the last 5 years
- have relatives living here
- work in the borough.
This is not the only way you can establish a local connection. Visit the Shelter website to find more about local connection.
If we assess that you don't have a local connection with Hammersmith & Fulham, we may then refer you to a council you have a local connection with.
If you are at risk of violence or domestic abuse in your current area, the local connections rules do not apply.